The Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Scrutiny, Dr Adu Owusu-Sarkodie, has called on the government to channel part of Ghana’s Heritage Fund into strategic investments in the mining sector to boost local participation and secure long-term economic returns.

Speaking during the JoyBusiness Roundtable discussion on the theme, “To Nationalise or Transform? Rethinking Ghana’s Approach to Mining, Oil and Critical Minerals,” Dr Owusu-Sarkodie argued that Ghana could use part of the fund currently invested abroad to strengthen state participation in the extractive industry.

“The last time I checked, Ghana had about $1.2 billion invested abroad. If we are looking for funding to invest in our mines and increase state participation, then the government should consider using part of the Heritage Fund,” he stated.

According to him, some of the returns generated from overseas investments are being undermined by inflation, resulting in negative real returns.

“When inflation in the US is above the nominal interest we receive, then effectively we are making negative returns,” he explained.

Dr Owusu-Sarkodie proposed that the government withdraw a portion of the fund — rather than the entire amount — to support investments in strategic mineral resources such as gold, oil and lithium.

“Even if we are not going to withdraw all the money, we can take half and increase our participation in the sector,” he said.

He stressed that increased state participation in mining could help drive local development, create employment opportunities and strengthen indigenous businesses.

“We want to keep our status, investment, education, local companies and local development,” he noted.

Dr Owusu-Sarkodie also advocated stronger local content provisions in mining agreements, including employment targets for Ghanaians in technical and managerial roles.

“Can we negotiate some of these contracts and say employ a certain number of Ghanaian engineers and managers?” he questioned.

He maintained that Ghana must adopt policies that ensure the country derives greater long-term value from its natural resources through increased local participation and skills development.